Windows 10 1511 getting continuous updates

If you survived the upgrade to Windows 10 Version 1511 (aka Fall Update), your copy of Windows will get several updates, soon after. Most recently, Microsoft released KB 3120677, which, among other things, is designed to fix a personal-settings flaw that caused an uproar in the computer press.

As has been widely reported, Microsoft pulled the ISO version of Version 1511 and then restored it, a few days later. In an InfoWorld article, Woody Leonhard puts his particular spin on the event, including the possibility that Microsoft might have put a temporary pause in sending out Version 1511 via Windows Update.

The primary fix in KB 3120677 is to have Windows 10 restore your personal-security settings. On some systems, updating to Version 1511 resulted in resetting the “advertising ID,” “Background apps,” “SmartScreen Filter,” and “Sync with devices” settings.

The key word in the update’s description is “restore.” As Woody notes, it’s a bit scary that Microsoft has kept a record of those settings somewhere in the cloud.

Windows 10, of course, doesn’t let you pick-and-choose updates. Moreover, most updates are cumulative, meaning each update includes previous updates. If you like to keep track of what’s getting fixed in your copy of Win10, the combination of cumulative updating and thin documentation makes things somewhat difficult.

About Tracey Capen

Editor in chief Tracey Capen was the executive editor of reviews at PC World magazine for 10 years, from 1995 to 2005. He was InfoWorld's managing editor of reviews from 1993 to 1995 and worked in the magazine's test center and as networking editor from 1989 to 1992. Between his stints at InfoWorld, he was senior labs editor at Corporate Computing magazine.

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